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<\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019m not going to complain with the way that I played at all,\u201d Valk said.<\/p>\n
\t<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been struggling a little bit with certain parts of the game and felt today[Monday] that they were in much better spots. I didn\u2019t make as many putts as I usually do.\u201d<\/p>\n
His second round shifts to Mickelson National, a course Valk knows well after competing in the Mickelson Invitational over the past three years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI enjoy playing it quite a bit,\u201d Valk said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a course that fits my game pretty well, so I\u2019ll try to make up some ground over there.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 27-year-old said making the cut remains one of his primary goals this week.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s definitely a tournament where if you get on a little bit of a run, you can pick up a lot of ground very quickly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Valk\u2019s best finish at the Canadian Men\u2019s Amateur came in 2021 when he tied for 35th. He has made the cut twice in his previous three appearances.<\/p>\n
The 264-player field will be cut after the opening two rounds, with the top 60 players and ties advancing to the final two rounds at Mickelson National.<\/p>\n
Fellow Hatter Nico Faller is playing in the national event for the first time, and said qualifying on Friday was already a victory for him.<\/p>\n
He shot a one-under-par 71 at the Mickelson National Golf Club on Friday in a supplemental qualifier to place fourth and earn his spot. The top ten of about 100 golfers moved on.<\/p>\n
On Monday, the same course presented a bigger challenge as Faller shot a 10-over-par 82.<\/p>\n
Faller said he battled windy conditions and some of the fastest greens he has faced on Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a totally different golf course,\u201d Faller said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe greens are really, really fast and very tough.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 43-year-old, who moved to Medicine Hat for BC in 2024, is the franchise operator at the Petro-Canada and A&W near Redcliff, and plays regularly at the Medicine Hat Golf and Country Club.<\/p>\n
Despite the opening-round score, Faller remains upbeat heading into his second round at Heritage Pointe Golf Club, another course he had never played before the championship.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m always very competitive,\u201d Faller said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just want to see how I perform.\u201d<\/p>\n
Golf has become Faller\u2019s competitive outlet after years as a high-level tennis player in the Philippines, where he represented the national team and competed at the university level.<\/p>\n
\u201cTennis is really my core game,\u201d Faller said.<\/p>\n
\u201cGolf was a cross-training sport for us in university, but I only really took it seriously when I moved to Canada about five or six years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now carrying a plus-1 handicap, Fowler said qualifying for the national championship is something he\u2019s proud to accomplish.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat means I can have the potential to be a good golfer,\u201d Faller said. \u201cThat\u2019s how I think about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rather than focusing on the leaderboard, Faller said his goal is to measure himself against his own expectations.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy whole goal is really to compete against myself and try to get better at what I do,\u201d Faller said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe other competitors just happen to be there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Valk grew up playing golf at the Medicine Hat Golf and Country Club, living a short distance away, before becoming a member at Desert Blume Golf Club in 2020.<\/p>\n
He said the city\u2019s competitive golf scene continues to help sharpen his game.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got a really good group of strong players that all try to push each other,\u201d Valk said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re all good friends as well, so that helps a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now working full-time in Medicine Hat, Valk said balancing work with competitive golf has become more challenging, making opportunities like the national championship even more meaningful.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey put on an amazing event every time,\u201d Valk said.<\/p>\n
Both golfers start round two on Tuesday afternoon.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s incredible to see all the work that goes into it. There are volunteers all over the place, people watching, and you meet some really cool people. It\u2019s a very cool event, and I\u2019m happy to be a part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI\u2019m not going to complain with the way that I played at all,\u201d Valk said. \u201cI\u2019ve been struggling…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":831985,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[443],"tags":[49,48,622,82],"class_list":["post-831984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/831984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=831984"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/831984\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/831985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=831984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=831984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=831984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}